Youth Ministry. The Books All

¶ … youth ministry. The books all discuss youth, religion, and their devotion to their religion, and they show some surprising results.

The first book is "Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers" by Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton. Early in the book, the authors let the reader know what their book will discuss. They write, "In many discussions and activities revolving around better understanding and helping teenagers, one aspect of their lives seems frequently to go unnoticed, unconsidered, unexamined. That is their religious and spiritual lives" (Smith, and Denton 4). This book looks at the spirituality of teenagers and how some of them are so disengaged from their spiritual lives, while others are quite happy with their spirituality. It talks about how many teens actually live very spiritual lives, and this is often largely ignored. The authors traveled around the country to interview teens firsthand, rather than relying on other research, and they found a wide variety of reactions to their questions about religion, as can be expected.

The book looks at all aspects of teen faith, from what children learn about religion from their parents, to what they think it will mean in their lives. It is a comprehensive look at teens in America from a different viewpoint, and it is geared not only to teens but also to adults who want to understand more about their teens and how they view religious beliefs. There are some disquieting discussions with teens who do not believe, but for the most part the book is an upbeat and positive look at teen religion in America, and how many teens are actively involved in their religions.

The text presents many ideas and thoughts, but two that were very interesting were first, that children tend to get their religious beliefs directly from their parents; they are not as influenced by peers, as people might believe. One young man the authors talked to said about his beliefs, "Not different. I don't know what I'm gonna believe in [the future]. I'm guessing they're just going to be what my parents do, but that's about it'" (Smith, and Denton 120). Many young people do not put as much thought and interest into their religion, they simply follow their parents lead and do not question it. That means to me that the parents are extremely influential in their children's lives, more than they might think, and that their views on religion can create the entire religious outlook for their children. This is extremely important, and cannot be overlooked. Parents have a tremendous influence, and they should be aware of that. If they present negative attitudes about religion, they could influence their children, instead of letting them make their own decision, and that is a great responsibility.

Another interesting aspect of the book was the discussion on Catholic teens. Surprisingly, the authors found that they are not as involved in youth ministry as Christian teens are, despite the highly organized aspect of the Catholic Church. They write, "According to reports, Catholic parents are much less likely than other types of Christian parents to say that ministry to teenagers is a very important priority in their church congregation (47% compared to 56-80%, depending on the Protestant tradition)" (Smith, and Denton 211). They also note that Catholics Churches offer fewer opportunities for youth ministries compared to Protestant churches, which is also somewhat surprising.

I think this book is an excellent source of information on youth involvement in religion, and how they gain their religious knowledge. I would recommend it to parents, religious leaders, and teens, in order to understand more about building youth ministries that appeal to youth.

The next book is "Doing More with Life: Connecting Christian Higher Education to a Call to Service," edited by Michael R. Miller. This book is directly related to higher education and youth ministry. It discusses how young people find their religious and moral calling, and how higher education can help them find their religious goals. The author writes that his purpose in writing the book was to help readers find their sense of vocation. He writes, "It is my hope that the chapters in this book, all of which were initially presented at the Callings Conference, will help the reader better understand his or her sense of vocation as well" (Miller xv). The chapters in the book all reach toward that goal, covering every denomination, how service in the military meshes with religious belief, Catholic contributions, and how educators can help students find their own vocations.

The editor brings together contributors that are experts in their fields, and they look at specific examples of young people operating in youth ministries along with examples for educators to help them lead their students in finding their own callings. The contributors also show how youth ministers influence the young people they work with, and open up the idea of serving God in some way, having a great influence on many young people beginning their own youth ministries. Many contributors share their own first realizations about their religious beliefs and their vocations, and they discuss everything from how to realize your own vocation to how higher education is dealing with vocation combined with education, and how some institutions turn away from those issues.

One young man that discovers his vocation is a youth named Marc who comes to realize that he is profoundly influential with his youth group. The author writes, "This youth ministry position was a way for him to combine a love of theater with another of his passions, working with kids. As the term progressed, it was clear Marc was becoming a role model for his children" (Miller 49). This is an extremely valuable chapter, because it shows how Marc went from a mildly enthusiastic youth ministry leader to a wildly successful youth leader, and it shows how that profoundly affected all aspect of his life. The author shows why this was so important, and how Marc grew as a person and a student as a result. It is important for young people to read about others who are a success, and to see what it means in their lives, and this book does that, using specific examples and real life situations. I enjoyed reading about Marc, but I enjoyed learning about how much his experiences meant to him and how important they were to his development into a rewarding and successful adult.

Another interesting, if disturbing observation about today's youth occurs later in the book. Another contributor writes, "Few young people have a sense of themselves as being called by something that they feel freely compelled to serve. Instead, their lifestyle choices are made on a rationally calculated, instrumental basis" (Miller 117). For many of the people I know here on campus, I think that is totally true. Many young people today are extremely self-centered, and they have no wish to share their lives with a higher calling. Most of them are only concerned with their own needs and wants, and what they will do after they graduate. While I do have some friends who are more involved in the community and work toward spirituality and community service, most of the people I know just are not that interested in helping others, and I wonder what that will mean for our society in the years to come.

I would certainly recommend this book to educators and others concerned with helping young people develop into viable and concerned adults. I would also recommend it to young people who might have questions about their vocation and their spirituality, because I think it would help them make better choices and include service into their daily lives, and that cannot be a bad thing.

The final book is "Saving Souls, Serving Society: Understanding the Faith Factor in Church-Based Social Ministry," by Heidi Rolland Unruh and Ronald J. Sider. This book talks about social ministry programs in general, and how churches can create successful social ministries that serve their congregations. The authors maintain that many social ministry programs today are like social services for the members of the community. They mix religion and services people need, always with the goal of saving souls and serving the community at the same time. They want these people who are hungry, poor, without resources, or addicted to substances to come to church to change their lives, but they simply want to help them, as well. The authors offer many different insights into different social ministries and how their churches accomplish these ministries, along with profiles of people who have been helped by these ministries.

The authors offer profiles of individuals and case studies of successful ministries, they interview pastors and members who serve on the social ministries, and they show churches how to set up their own social ministries. They also discuss youth ministries and how they serve the community, and how pastors and volunteers can create successful youth ministries that appeal to the young people of the community. They talk about the value of social ministries, both to the church and to the people they service, and how effective these ministries can be. They ask the question "does faith work?" And answer that in their study of 158 church programs, it does indeed work, and often it works very well. They also offer profiles of the churches they studied to write the book, so the reader gets a feel for the cross section of religious sects the authors studied, and how successful the churches are in their own communities.